Editorial | Congress nearly out of cans to kick in government shutdown

As the nation's leaders kick around some resolution - we hope - of the pending "debt ceiling" crisis and current government shutdown, it's worth recapping how we got into this jam.

And this "jam" of a potential U.S. default on its debt as soon as Thursday is no minor matter. Financial experts inside and outside the United States warn it could trigger another recession and worldwide financial meltdown.

"Massive disruption the world over," said Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

"The panic will set in and something will happen," said Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase.

President Barack Obama warned Congress, which has turned its once-routine approval of debt ceiling increases into political, perils of Pauline melodramas, holding hostage the credit of the United States to seek cockamamie concessions it can't get otherwise.

"There's no business person out there who thinks this wouldn't be a big deal, not one," the president said recently.

But back to the recap.

First, infuriated by the fact that the Affordable Care Act is the law, tea party extremists among the House Republicans blocked a routine vote to extend government spending beyond Oct. 1. As a result, most of the federal government remains shut down while the health law remains intact.

Next, unswayed by the fact that the United States is fast running out of money to pay its bills (the debt ceiling crisis), the House majority GOP members refused to authorize the government to borrow more money.

And then, in what some have called "governing by temper tantrum," the House, unable to extort any concessions, simply walked off the job. House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, announced discussions were over and sent the House home for the weekend, The Courier-Journal's James R. Carroll reported Sunday.

That kicked the can to the Senate, leaving it to Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, Republican minority leader, to try to figure out how to get the government back open and avoid a worldwide economic crisis through default.

Traditionally, the Senate has been the more deliberative body. But that was before things broke down between Senators Reid and McConnell. Once congenial colleagues, the two barely speak.

And the Senate has been infiltrated by its own tea party extremists, making it harder for Mr. McConnell to manage his caucus.

Among them is Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who overrode House Speaker Boehner to whip the House hardliners into their anti-Obamacare fervor.

Mr. Cruz was still at it this weekend, appearing at a Washington rally with tea party prima donna Sarah Palin to bash the health care law. Tellingly, some at the rally waved Confederate flags and called for the impeachment of President Obama, according to The New York Times.

Another Senate tea party troublemaker is Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, who has joined some congressional Republicans in speculating that a U.S. default on its debt wouldn't be all that bad.

"It really is irresponsible of the president to try to scare the markets," he told The New York Times.

What's really irresponsible is creating this debt crisis, then refusing to fix it.

Mr. McConnell should put his considerable political skills to work and help fix this faux crisis. And stop it before it starts again.

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Editorial | Congress nearly out of cans to kick in government shutdown

As the nation's leaders kick around some resolution ? we hope ? of the pending 'debt ceiling' crisis and current government shutdown, it's worth recapping how we got into this jam.